Sugoi monogatari, aniki.

SHARING TIME: ღ - I miss having a place for just recs, especially since I tend to spread them out over multiple tumblr accounts, and eventually I do want to get caught up. So I'm gonna start making a dent in them again! But I'll at least try to make them themed! ღ - In that vein: TIME TRAVEL FIC. \o/

AND ONTO THE RECS: Star Wars - 14 Fanfics

→ Shadows of the Future by stormqueen873, obi-wan & anakin & qui-gon & cast, 129.3kObiWan lost the duel on Mustafar, but instead of dying, he finds himself on a ship leaving Tatooine, with his old Master and a familiar young boy. As events begin to unfold, can he stop the future he knows from occuring? I AM SO SAD THIS FIC IS OVER. I admit, the beginning is super fluffy and it takes awhile to get into the real tension of the piece, but when the fic delivers on the revelations, when Qui-Gon finally finds out what Obi-Wan knows, when Obi-Wan finally has to really let loose in a fight, when Anakin realizes what happened in Obi-Wan's future, all of it is so goddamned worth the wait. I do actually enjoy the fluff of this fic, I don't mean to indicate otherwise, because it's adorable and necessary, where Obi-Wan just loves kidlet Anakin so much and has the experience to be more open about it this time, the maturity to better handle everything, has Qui-Gon still alive to let up on his own grief, it's wonderful to read and soothed my heart and paved the way for the relationships being even stronger than they were.

But it's really in the second half where this fic becomes absolutely magical, where shit finally hits the fan and revelations have to happen and the plot cannot remain the same because Obi-Wan's not going to let things fall apart again. I absolutely could not put the fic down by that point, I was utterly engrossed and read practically the whole second half in one sitting because I kept needing to turn the page, just one more time, just one more time! The tension of how things unfold, Sidious and Maul's plots, the Jedi Council trying to figure out what's going on, Qui-Gon trying to figure out what the hell is up with Obi-Wan, Anakin bonding so fiercely to Obi-Wan, all of it ties together and culminates in a fine as hell epic fight scene that left me so damned satisfied.

The fic is absolutely focused on making things better, in fixing everything, but it never forgets that Obi-Wan is not who he was in the original timeline, because he's grown, he's healing here, but he's still a Jedi Master who has Seen A Lot Of Shit, that the second time around is necessary to be built on top of the previous one, which is how time travel fics work best for me. Plus, this has one of my new favorites of the duel on Mustafar, when Anakin won that duel and how he won it, how you realize it shapes so much of what happens between them. And the ending! MY HEART FEELS SO MUCH BETTER AFTER THIS FIC.

→ these are the good old days by QueenWithABeeThrone, han & obi-wan & anakin, 2.3kHan Solo, after being killed by his own son, wakes up as an eight-year-old on Corellia, then runs away from home. just his luck (or the Force) that his ride crashes on a world being squabbled over by the Republic and the Separatists. just his luck (or the Force) that he runs into Anakin Skywalker and Obi-wan Kenobi, too. Oh, my god, this was such a joyful ride, I could have read it for another 100k and eaten it up like it was nothing but delicious candy, even as it's just the right length for what it wants to achieve. It's such a great Han voice, the right amount of "wtf" blended with "well, whatever, this is my life now, I guess" feeling, the fic does a glorious job of those reveal moments that you know are coming, when he realizes just who he's run into, the hilarious shock of, oh, shit, it's kriffing Vader and oh, fuck, that's Obi-Wan Kenobi, but also they're not really what Han was expecting, either. The whole fic is an absolute scream, I never knew how badly I needed Han Solo to be the worst time traveler ever, to interact with Anakin and Obi-Wan in hilarious ways, to have his life just entirely fucked up by these Force users. But this was super great and everyone should read it, my face hurts from grinning just remembering reading it!

→ untitled by cadesama part 1 / 2 / 3, obi-wan & anakin & leia & rey & padme & finn & poe & cast, 2.7k wipA decade ago, Leia would have considered this a headache. Perhaps a nightmare. Now, she was mostly bemused. Oh, I am so charmed by this whole collection of ficlets, finally there is time travel fuckery that includes the TFA characters! And I am so here for Clone Wars era Anakin and Ahsoka plus TPM era Obi-Wan and Anakin and Padme ending up in the future, I'm so here for the hints of Anakin having to interact with Kylo Ren, I'm so here for there being two Future Darth Vaders lounging around their base and everyone Not Knowing What To Say about this, I'm so here for Rey's utter "wtf" reaction to all of this bullshit, I am so here for Leia just rolling with it because she always lands on her feet no matter how weird something is, and I'm just so here for the banter and the fun of all this collection of people from different eras and what a joyful, joyful clusterfuck this is. :D

→ of deserts and droids by songstress, rey & anakin, 3.9k Rey accidentally time-travels, and realizes that Jedi are even more weird than she had ever imagined. Oh, I love the tone this fic takes, it definitely is crack treated seriously, but it does it so well, it embraces and just totally rolls with the concept of Padawan Learners accidentally time traveling via the Force through meditation and is absolutely precious to see a young Anakin interacting with Rey, the way he's so chatty and charming and adorable and complains about his life constantly but Rey can absolutely read between the lines of what he says, he's just such a ball of energy and you instantly feel for Obi-Wan having to deal with that, but also you absolutely love the little shit because he's got such a charisma to him, but also this is a great piece about Rey and her early days of learning to be a Jedi. And then the ending hits and, wham, I had an attack of the feelings exactly as I should and it was just. A really easy read that I immediately got pulled into, had a joyful time reading, and then was quietly devastated all over again. Just what Star Wars fic should be.

→ Hollow by JennMel, qui-gon & obi-wan & anakin & others, 5.6kObi-Wan has always had a secret. And Qui-Gon could not, must not, ever know. If he did, then they would never even make it to Tatooine, let alone deal with the rest to come. One perfect possible future, that's all Obi-Wan needed to achieve...that's all. I greatly enjoyed this piece, one that didn't need to be long to do some fixing of the timeline and having an interesting concept that it pulled off nicely. I love how it changes things, offers so much hope, but without making it easy or without a lot of pain and sacrifice, which makes the potential for something better all the more well earned.

→ Futurus (-a -um) by cadesama, anakin/padme + obi-wan/anakin/padme + luke & leia & mon mathma & ahsoka, mildly nsfw, 53.2kCracked hyperdrive? No problem. Just hold it together with the Force. Time travel? Well. That could be a bigger problem. I have two caveats about this fic before I begin: It's a WIP that hasn't been updated in about a year, so I'm not sure if it will be. But it gets enough satisfying stuff in so even though it ends on a cliffhanger, I found it absolutely worth reading! And that it's very fast in the beginning, there's not much time to build up suspense before the reveals are already happening. This isn't a fic I wound up reading for the suspense or reveals by the time I got into the thick of it, this is a fic that's about the building relationship between Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padme. Previous to this fic, I'd never shipped anything but Anakin/Padme, so their relationship being strong here, being absolutely important to Anakin's pov, while the shifting nature of his relationship with Obi-Wan is slowly changing, works for me, it eased me in at just the right pacing and made me actually really, really want it.

What the fic does the most beautifully for me, though, is how Anakin is so beloved and so special and so brilliant, but he's also an obnoxious pain in the ass, the way Padme and Obi-Wan both love him dearly, but he's also a dumbass, oh, that worked for me because that's exactly it, that's how they relate to him. The plot part of the story was interesting as well, I definitely want to know where things are going, how this will affect history, and I love love love that the PT characters were the ones thrown forward into the OT's time, that's where my heart really is, and this fic just completely and totally charmed the hell out of me! I especially appreciate that it gently eased me into shipping this OT3 in a way that worked for me and got me to be able to actually see it.

→ Threads of the Past by Magier74, obi-wan & anakin & qui-gon & xanatos, 37.8kObi-Wan and Anakin make an unexpected detour returning home from a mission. Another fic that I found myself getting sucked into before I knew it! It's Obi-Wan and Anakin traveling back to just before Obi-Wan became Qui-Gon's Padawan and of course things do not go smoothly, but in a way that ultimately winds up being really satisfying to read. I do wish there had been a bit more filling in of details (the revelation scene was sadly missed) but ultimately I don't mind because it still gave me so many things I was here for: Anakin getting a better understanding of Obi-Wan for having seen him as a less controlled child, being kind of freaked out because if Obi-Wan dies then he won't be there for Anakin, the getting to actually see Qui-Gon instead of placing him on an idealized pedestal, as well as Obi-Wan seeing Qui-Gon again and learning how to really work through that grief. But also beyond that the timeline changes and that means plot changes happen! Xanatos becomes more important to the grand scheme, it means Obi-Wan and Anakin are closer when Anakin's life goes to hell, it means the events of the galaxy shift into a better gear bit by bit. It's not a terribly long fic, but it was suitably epic in scope and utterly satisfying by the end, it balanced the bigger plot stuff with the smaller human moments (Obi-Wan helping Anakin through his mother's death is a scene that really stuck with me) in a way that really made me happy. Another example of why I read time travel fic, god bless.

→ Lost Reflections by esama, obi-wan & ben, 30.k wipObi-Wan didn't become Qui-Gon Jinn's apprentice, and Ben didn't exile himself to Tatooine. On Bandomeer the two meet. Holy shit, I got sucked into this fic hard, despite that I really did not expect to. I was wary because my heart hurt at the idea of Obi-Wan never becoming a Jedi Knight, that Qui-Gon passed him over and never changed his mind, and the lack of other characters around them. But I've always enjoyed this author's work whenever they write something and the fic quickly engrossed me and eventually I realized why it's perfectly set up--it's not about the big, epic events of the greater storyline, but it's about Obi-Wan Kenobi. It's set from the younger one's POV, as a strange possible Jedi named Ben Kenobi shows up on the farming world he's been assigned to, so you can guess at so much of what Ben's been through, but you don't know the specifics and it works so well for that, especially because you can feel that bone deep weariness of soul and heart, even as he still has such care in him. It's perfectly set up because it's interesting, the ways that they use the Force in the AgriCorps that's different from how a Jedi Knight uses it, it's genuinely impressive what they do and it strengths their abilities in different ways.

This isn't a time travel fic about fixing the timeline, it's about Ben Kenobi finding healing because he needs to find himself. It's about slice of life moments, it's about nothing being hurried or frantic, but about Ben doing something wholly good again and lessening the hurt of those he's lost (especially Anakin's fall). And, oh, it's a fic with gorgeous characterization, I love how different these two characters are, yet they are both Obi-Wan Kenobi, that deep well of caring and strength of personality and rightness of heart, even as there are absolutely feelings of anger and bitterness that young Obi-Wan works through. And Ben is perfect, even as the fic slowly reveals the wounded parts of his character, he still the absolute epitome of a perfect Jedi, he's always composed and refined and graceful. He's such an incredible teacher (of course, it helps that he knows exactly what he needs), always patient and yet not without humor and finding amusement in frustrating his apprentice at times, that he is so good for younger Obi-Wan, who grows so much with this guidance. It's not about big reveals, it's not about greater plot machinations, but instead about the slice of life moments that build (or fix) the foundations of both of the characters. It's a WIP, but it doesn't really matter because everything you're getting out of this fic is present in the chapters that have already been posted and, honestly, while I would read 100k more of this (or at least like to know the ultimate ending), it's also entirely satisfying the way it is. I got sucked into this and read it all in one sitting just about because it's exactly the balm my soul needed, too.

→ Soldier, Poet, King by Glare, obi-wan/anakin & qui-gon & cast, sith!obi-wan, 14.4k wipSecond chances are very rarely given, but the Force smiles upon two of its favorite children and returns them to a time before their actions have met their consequences. Anakin Skywalker, also known as Darth Vader, seeks redemption while Obi-Wan “Ben” Kenobi, disillusioned with the Jedi Order and its Code, falls to the Darkness. Trapped out of time, Master and Apprentice must once again work together to stop Sideous’ plans from reaching fruition and bring Balance to the Force—all the while dodging the Jedi, the Sith, and their feelings for each other. I very badly just want to vomit my feelings up everywhever for this fic because I love it more and more with every chapter that's put out, it's just so interesting and is doing so many things I love! Time travel fuckery with Obi-Wan and Anakin! Sith!Anakin traveling back to the past, his motives not entirely clear just yet, but he's got something in mind and he's adorable and charming and sort of clear-headed again, sort of not, but his interaction with Padawan!Obi-Wan is delightful! And then Sith!Ben hiding in the shadows and watching over all of this, you know he's going to start some shit eventually and when he does, it's not long (not so far, not with only 4 chapters as of the time of this rec) but it's so satisfying, even just seeing Anakin's reaction from Padawan!Obi-Wan's eyes! Who is totally confused about what the hell is going on here. And it's just. It's this glorious tangle of various versions of these characters all in the same timeline and both the building up towards reveals and the beginnings of the reveals starting to happen and my satisfaction at yet another Sith!Obi-Wan fic that works for me and finally a time traveling Anakin fic that works for me and just--! I'm having a little trouble writing a coherent rec for this one.

Because I delight in just what this author is doing, the way Sith!Ben is dangerous and powerful and has unleashed himself, the way Anakin feels a bit more settled but still is a little out of his mind, the way I love everyone here and the writing is so charming and the plot has absolutely caught my attention, I want to know what's going on with the Sith holocron, I want to know what's going to happen with Anakin, I want to know what Sith!Ben's plans are, I loved the scene where he (sort of) showed himself and proceeded to knock Anakin on his ass (physically and emotionally! my favorite thing!! I love when smug Anakin gets knocked back down, so good for me, especially when it's done with such care, in its own way), I love how well he knows certain things about Anakin, I love the mentions of the bond being back in place between them, and just. So many things. I am completely useless at writing a rec here because I'm just having way too much fun with it.

→ One Day More by CalaisKenobi, obi-wan & qui-gon & anakin & cast, 31.2kObi-Wan is given the opportunity to make some changes in his past. With the help of some old friends, and the hindrance of some old enemies, the Galaxy will be forever changed. I am an absolute sucker for time travel fic and it's nice to see one that's finished and kept fairly short! Obi-Wan is so beloved by the Force (always a way to get me to click on a fic, lbr) that he gets three chances to change different days in his life and the fic isn't really about the lengthy details of the changed timelines, but instead more about using one or two moments in those changed times to highlight how things could have done differently. It's really a fic about how selfless a character Obi-Wan Kenobi is, how he would never sacrifice someone else for his own gain or happiness, that's just not who he is at all, that he will always put himself in danger before anyone else. It's a fic about how dearly he loves the people he cares about, Qui-Gon and then Anakin later (though, the first section is lighter on Obi-Wan's love for Anakin than I would have thought) and the ways he comes up with to save them.

It's a fic that blends a lot of elements, the time travel/chance to redo things that I love, the explanations Obi-Wan eventually gives because suddenly you have a Jedi Master in a Padawan's body, the emotional charge of losing those he loves again (because you know it's not going to go right until the third time around, so the second time around with Anakin was just all the feelings place ouchies for me), and the fic floating the idea that I rather largely agree with, that Anakin does bring balance to the Force, that the Jedi Order had become stagnant and the Force wanted change, however that came about. But, ultimately, it's a fic about giving Obi-Wan a chance at happiness without sacrificing the things Obi-Wan will always do, that saving the galaxy doesn't have to be about those rare bigger moments, but instead it's about the everyday joy and love for life that pulls the galaxy towards something better. And all of that was just exactly right for me, centered around Obi-Wan's character as it was, it's everything I want from this fandom.

→ Conversations at the Intersections of Time by Sentimental Star, obi-wan & anakin & qui-gon, 5.2k wipWhat happens when a thirteen-year-old Anakin Skywalker and his twenty-nine-year-old Master get snatched back in time, only to come face to face with a fifteen-year-old Obi-Wan…and a very much alive Qui-Gon Jinn? I am entirely a sucker for time travel fics, especially ones that are about both Obi-Wan getting to see Qui-Gon again and about Anakin seeing a young Padawan Obi-Wan. The fic does drop you into the middle of things (which I'm fine with, all the sooner to get to the good stuff!) and has an epithet problem, but it has young Obi-Wan and young Anakin bonding together and talking about the adults and even if this is just two chapters (so it's more like a snippet out of a larger story, if you want to view it that way) I had fun with it and am very glad I read it. I will always read adorable Padawans trying to figure stuff out, especially when Anakin starts to understand Obi-Wan better because of it.

→ Tumbling Star Wars by esama, obi-wan & anakin & qui-gon & padme, 4.9kVarious Star Wars snippets. Some crossovers. These are two separate fics and I loved both of them dearly and would have read 100k for each of them, even as they stand well enough as snippets on their own! The first one is a time travel fic that, oh, just absolutely punched me in the feelings over Obi-Wan's life and how much he loses post-ROTS, but also the chance he has for things to be different when he wakes up again! It's one of those that I really would have loved more of it, but am happy with what there is, the little moments that were worked in, how much he cares deeply about Luke and Leia already, the moments he spends with Anakin and you can feel all the undercurrents there, even as they're simple moments, the way his younger self looks at him and the determination he has that his younger self won't have the same future as him. It might have been short, but it was a great piece for Obi-Wan! The second is an AU of ROTS, where Anakin doesn't turn in quite the same way and so instead sneaks off at the end and the Republic is left cleaning up the mess, and this one is much more of a moment of what would be a fascinating larger AU but ahhhh it captured my imagination so well that I loved it dearly. Both are such great concepts with really neat execution that I heartily enjoyed them both.

→ Wake the Storm by bedlamsbard, obi-wan & anakin & cast, 75.4kConsidering that he had picked up what was probably a Sith artifact, promptly passed out in the middle of a war zone, and apparently woken up twenty years in the future with Obi-Wan having taken up residence in his head, Anakin thought he was entitled to have a few questions. So, I pretty much sunk into this fic and didn't come out again until I'd read the whole thing, I just absolutely couldn't put it down! My only caveat is that, while the build-ups and suspense are stellar, you just kind of have to roll with that the fic is not as strong at reveals. The way the fic is structured, there's a lot of "omg when will Character A find out about Character b????" that don't necessarily happen or happen late in the fic or aren't pieced together when they should be or aren't dwelled on for long. I don't think this is a huge detriment, so long as you know what you're getting ahead of time, though, because what the fic is about (Anakin skipping around the timeline and other universes, dragging Obi-Wan along with him) is absolutely fantastic. The writing is incredibly engaging, it's the kind where I find this far more readable than a lot of professionally published books, that the plot structure and pacing of the scenes is all rock solid for me. (Tbh, probably the only reason any caveats occur to me at all is because the fic as a whole is so well written.)

The characterization is lovely and gets at the heart of what I wanted--where Anakin experiences the destruction and tragedy that happens, his horror at it solidified by the time he finds out his connection to it, as well as his interaction with Obi-Wan is strengthened up because of what Obi-Wan has been through and how he's seeing Anakin again and how much time he's had to think over the events of Anakin's future. The plot is interesting and the fic spends time with each world but doesn't linger and there has clearly been thought given to setting all of it up, but it blends into the story perfectly, like... you know those fics you can pick up and just read and read and read because they're so engaging and written with such good pacing that you don't want to put it down, that even when it shifts gears, you find yourself rolling right along with it because you want to know what happens next? That's what this fic did for me, I was so curious about where it was going next and how this was all going to affect them.

While this story itself is gen, you can tell that the story is heading towards Obi-Wan/Anakin/Padme, so it spends time building Obi-Wan/Anakin back up and shifting it to romantic instead of platonic, that it doesn't happen here at all, but you can feel how desperately Anakin loves Obi-Wan and how Obi-Wan has been given the time to really reflect on feelings and attachment and on Anakin in general, so that I believe it. Plus, I'm a sucker for all the little touches, like Anakin sleeping on Obi-Wan or the way he touches Anakin after he goes through a tough time, it got me right in the feelings place, to go along with the intriguing greater story. I am now going to proceed to dive right into the monster sequel fic and probably roll around in my feelings some more.

→ I Found You by KeeperofSeeds, obi-wan & shmi, ~1kA pregnant Shmi makes it to the Jedi Temple and immediate seeks out and finds the boy who was (will be?) her son's Master/brother/teacher/friend. The boy who became the man to sacrifice himself for her grandchildren. The One who shared her Visions. It didn't take long for me to fall in love with this fic, because I love love love the set-up of it and how it was done and how eager I am to know more about this universe. I love time travel fics, I love when there's more than one person who lived the original timeline, I love the chance to do things over, I love that this fic cares how much Anakin meant to Obi-Wan, BUT ALSO SHMI SKYWALKER, who has visions of everything that was Anakin's life. There is SO MUCH POTENTIAL here that I'm just ridiculously excited about where it could go and what it could do!